I am not sure whether I should describe myself as an egotist or an egoist. The distinction is subtle and important; I am forced to use the personal pronoun and would do anything, if I could, to avoid it in a book like this. I am not a public figure. I would almost prefer to use the pronoun “we” rather than “I” – and I do not mean in the editorial or royal sense – and there is a strong argument for doing so. For a writer is, at the very least, two persons. He is the prosaic man at his desk and a sort of valet who dogs him and does the living.